Category: Vacation

On day six of our summer vacation, we drove north from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. Along the way, we made a quick pit stop. We noticed more than a dozen of these guys checking us out at our roadside rest stop. They were looking for some handouts. Sophia and I fed them strawberries until a large bird flew overhead and they scattered.

The Grand Canyon | South Rim

Rain clouds along with thunder and lightning moved into the area. I tried to photograph the lightning, but was too slow.

Sophia and Mike found the “50 Years Ago” medallion along the path of the South Rim and had to take a picture. Perfect timing since Mike’s 50th birthday would be the following day.

The ride home was beautiful…

Up Next: Day Seven– Another gorgeous day in Sedona, Smokey Bear and a 50th Birthday celebration.

Day five of our vacation was spent in Williams, Arizona, just a short drive from Flagstaff. We visited Bearizona Wildlife Park.

Bearizona is approximately 160 acres. Visitors will drive through more than three miles of Ponderosa Pine Forest viewing North American animals in natural habitats when they visit. More animals are exhibited in Fort Bearizona, a beautiful 20 acre walk-thru area, along winding paths which is more of a “zoo” type setting.

The first part of the park wasn’t overly impressive to the kids. Many animals were napping in the warm afternoon sun. It did get much more interesting as we reached the bears, wolves and buffalo.

Rocky Mountain Goat

Rocky Mountain Elk

Arctic Wolf

White Bison

Brown Bison

Bighorn Sheep

Black Bear

Badger

Red Fox

Petting zoo.

Turkey

Javelina

River Otter

Bobcat

The jaguar did not cooperate for photos.

Beaver

Porcupine

American Burro

We thought we should try to fit in one more adventure during our day, so we stopped at Walnut Canyon National Monument in Flagstaff before returning to our rental.

Walnut Canyon National Monument (Hopi: Wupatupqa) is a United States National Monument located about 10 mi (16 km) southeast of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, near Interstate 40. The canyon rim elevation is 6,690 ft (2,040 m); the canyon’s floor is 350 ft lower. A 0.9 mi (1.4 km) long loop trail descends 185 ft (56 m) into the canyon passing 25 cliff dwelling rooms constructed by the Sinagua, a pre-Columbian cultural group that lived in Walnut Canyon from about 1100 to 1250 CE. Other contemporary habitations of the Sinagua people are preserved in the nearby Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle national monuments.

We arrived shortly before they closed so we weren’t able to hike the lower trail, but we did get to see the cliff dwellings from the canyon rim.